Raging Demon
The Raging Demon (瞬獄殺, Shun Goku Satsu, "Instant Hell Murder") is a technique commonly seen in the Street Fighter games. Usually, it is a super move that requires a full meter to execute, is unblockable, and inflicts heavy damage. It is normally associated with Akuma, although Ryu has been able to use it as well (only when he is fully under the influence of the Satsui no Hado). The motion for the move is usually Jab (LP), Jab (LP), Forward, Short (LK), Fierce (HP) tapped separately and rhythmically (although Street Fighter IV allows the last three inputs to be pressed simultaneously). In practical use, however, the first two jabs can be hidden during some other action to surprise the target. History The Raging Demon in the storyline is a very powerful, but fatally dangerous technique taught in the original principles of the martial art taught by Goutetsu. When performed, the user of the Satsui no Hado would rage out of control, turning them into a bloodthirsty berzerker that rampages until their foe's death. It is essentially a barrage of strikes in a heart beat's time powered by the mastered Satsui no Hado to perform. Akuma is the first to unlock the art and with it he murdered Goutetsu. The move usually defeats the opponent instantly or kills them while destroying their soul. While immensely powerful, some characters have survived its wrath. Gill faced a Raging Demon head on, but because of his Resurrection ability, he survived the encounter. Gen also managed to withstand the attack by emptying his soul in time before it could consume him, but it took a lot of power to do so. M. Bison faced it at the end of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, but kept a portion of his life force and soul within Rose, which allowed him to come back in Street Fighter IV. Gouken, Akuma's brother, has also been confirmed to have survived. This was due to his embrace to "emptiness" within his fighting style. It was most likely that Gouken performed a soul evacuation much like Gen but did not completely succeed, resulting in Gouken lapsing into a comatose state. However, this attack cannot work on people who have no souls, artificial life forms, or any person who has emptied their soul. Concept The actual attack of the Raging Demon is never displayed explicitly onscreen. When performed, the user glides towards the opponent and grabs them. Before anything else can be seen, the screen blacks out (or turns completely blank white in some game incarnations) as the character is relentlessly beaten, as showcased by a series of flashes. However, in Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, during his Raging Demon Mighty Combo, Akuma can be seen striking the opponent in different places as the screen flashes. Also, if one looks carefully, Akuma can be seen posing at the "camera" while wearing swimming trunks and goggles at certain points. Appearances Super Street Fighter II Turbo featured the first appearance of this attack, though it was not its first usable appearance; Akuma's introduction has him perform the attack on Bison just as he is about to face the player. It was Akuma's Super Combo in later versions of the game. The Raging Demon continued to be Akuma's trademark Super Combo throughout the Street Fighter Alpha series. As an extension, Akuma's Alpha series inspired appearance in Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix as a deformed character, also uses the Raging Demon with an altered input to accommodate the three button interface. The Raging Demon returned along with Akuma in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact as his secret Super Art, and one of two secret Super Arts in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. He could use it in a match no matter what Super Art had been selected, thus giving him access to more than one Super Art at any given time. Naturally, the Raging Demon has also been Akuma's signature Super Combo in the various crossover games such as the Capcom vs. SNK, Marvel vs. Capcom and Street Fighter X Tekken series. It also makes its first ever CG appearance as well in Steve Fox and Hwoarang's ending after the latter has his wish to fight a hundred fighters at once unwittingly granted by Pandora by summoning a gauntlet of Akumas where they all attack at once. The move made its second CG appearance in Asura's Wrath, Lost Episode 1: At Last, Someone Angrier Than Me; Evil Ryu and Asura used it on each other, but both are seen standing after the successful quick-time event, drawing the conclusion that the moves canceled each other blow by blow. In Lost Episode 2: The Strongest vs. The Angriest, Oni attempts to use the Raging Demon, but is interrupted and countered, resulting in Oni flying into the air. Wrath of the Raging Demon The Raging Demon is once again Akuma's Super Combo in the Street Fighter IV games. However, this series also gave him access to a far more powerful version of the attack known as Shin Shun Goku Satsu (真・瞬獄殺, "True Instant Hell Murder"), or alternately "Wrath of the Raging Demon", as his first Ultra Combo. It is essentially the same as the original, but when Akuma comes into contact with his opponent ("Prepare yourself!"), the camera briefly changes into first-person view (from the helpless opponent's POV, essentially facing towards Akuma) and four kanji appear in the corners of the screen ("Die one thousand deaths!"). The kanji that appear are '一瞬千撃', Isshun sengeki, "One instant, one thousand strikes", after which Akuma proceeds with the attack (but its actual content, as always, passes by completely obscured, showcasing only the flashes of impact from each strike), and the opponent screams in pain, in the same manner as if they were just knocked out. While the standard Raging Demon has 15 hits, the Wrath of the Raging Demon deals 27 hits to the opponent and with a full Revenge Gauge, is capable of taking off more than half of the foe's life bar. The input of the Wrath of the Raging Demon is almost the same as that of the Super Combo version, except that the player has to press away instead of forward to execute the Ultra Combo. From a gameplay point-of-view, the previous properties of his Raging Demon have been divided between his Super and Ultra combo. The Super version is a zero frame grab, making it impossible to evade after the Super Flash in throw range. The Ultra version however gets the startup invincibility and high damage. Due to its telegraphed nature, 'Kara Demons' are nearly useless with the Ultra version. Instead the Ultra functions better as a counter, punish and anti-air. Shin Akuma's Wrath of the Raging Demon uses a true Ashura Senku during the slide, has the ability to pass through attacks that would normally cancel the Raging Demon and grants them priority over almost all moves allowing to cancel them (including Ultra Combos). The speed of the slide is much faster than that of his playable counterpart, and the slide itself covers the entire screen. Trivia *In Gouken's ending in Street Fighter IV, the Raging Demon is shown as a mighty punch enveloped in crimson energy. Ironically, the Street Fighter US animated series predated this exact depiction, though the energy was violet-colored. **Coincidentally, in both cases, Akuma uses the Raging Demon on the same person: Gouken. *In the original Street Fighter RPG game, the Raging Demon and its user, Akuma, don't exist. But the fans of the game developed a version of the attack at "Street Fighter RPG Brasil". *The Wrath of the Raging Demon in the Street Fighter IV series has the kanji '一瞬千撃' in the background, in which Akuma also iterates, "Isshun sengeki." This translates to "One moment, one thousand strikes." The English translation mistranslates this, having Akuma say "Die one thousand deaths" instead. *In Touhou Hisoutensoku, the character Suwako Moriya has the strongest spell card, very similar in effect to the Shun Goku Satsu, seen here. *Akuma is the only character who uses the Wrath of the Raging Demon. This attack might have been perfected throughout his relentless training and will to kill other fighters. *Akuma, when fought as the secret boss in Street Fighter X Mega Man, will charge up his Revenge Gauge throughout the battle. He will use the Wrath of the Raging Demon Ultra Combo the moment his health bar fills up for the battle. It is an instant kill even at full health. And since the Ultra Combo goes all the way across the screen quickly and activates with a single delay frame, the player only has a second to jump out of the way. Other users Street Fighter Non-Street Fighter Capcom In other media Sprites Screenshots Videos Category:Moves Category:Special Moves Category:Super Moves Category:Street Fighter Category:SNK vs. Capcom Category:Marvel vs. Capcom Category:M.U.G.E.N